The new cultivar is the result of chance discovery in a commercial nursery in Suffolk, England. The inventor, John Lord, a citizen of England, discovered the new variety as a single branch, naturally occurring mutation growing in a commercial planting of the parent variety Coprosma repens ‘JWNCOPPS’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 22,607. The discovery was made in the Summer of 2008.
After selecting and isolating the new cultivar, the inventor continued evaluating and testing the new variety. A final selection of the new cultivar ‘COPJOH02’ was made in the same commercial nursery in Summer of 2010. First propagation was performed by vegetative cuttings during the Summer of 2008. After the final selection of ‘COPJOH02’ during 2010, 2 additional generations have been propagated. This subsequent propagation has shown the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.